Who Is It For?

Set 14 Flashcards Preview

Debacle

Rout, fiasco, complete failure

The performance was a complete debacle; not only did I end up singing, but the cloud props we were using also fell down midway through the play, prompting the audience to shout "the sky is falling, the sky is falling"

2

Debunk

To expose as being pretentious, false, or exaggerated

The notion that the earth is flat has been completely debunked

3

Decorum

Politeness or appropriateness of conduct or behavior

Where did we ever get the notion that extending one's pinky finger while drinking tea was the height if decorum

Something marked by decorum is decorous

4

Deleterious

Injurious; harmful

The it originally seemed like a good idea to cut the quality of the product, the overall effect on customer relationships has been deleterious

5

Demur

To question or oppose

I hesitated to demur from the professor, until he said something factually inaccurate, at which point I felt I had to speak up

6

Denigrate

Blacken, belittle, sully, defame, disparage

Edna was notorious for denigrating everyone else's work, but never being willing to hear the slightest criticism of her own

7

Denouement

An outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot

Receiving the Nobel prize was a fitting denouement to his brilliant research

8

Deprecate

To disparage or belittle

You can deprecate his work all you want but it won't affect my opinion; I don't care if his writing is sometimes amateurish, I still like it

*to be self-deprecating is to belittle yourself or your accomplishments

9

Deprecate

To plunder, pillage, ravage or destroy; to exploit in a predatory manner

The pirates depredated every ship that came through the straits for two years, until no captain was willing to risk that route and the port town became deserted

*depredations are attacks, or ravages

Ten years of the dictator's depredations had left the country a wasteland

10

Dearth

Smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; lack

The dearth of snow this winter increases the likelihood of a drought next summer